IL SOGNO ITALIANO

Oh Italy, sweet, sweet land of the pasta, the pizza, the gelato and the tiramisu… Sweet land of the people speaking with their hands, the limoncello after dinner and the cute little old men on their vespas with their bright colorful socks and the chicest glasses you’ve ever seen. Oh dear, my love for Italy is unconditional. It just warms my heart to be able to enjoy some time there occasionally. Now that I live in Los Angeles, coming back to Milan brings me back into past, when I used to come every other month by train from Geneva’s train station and drown for a few days into Italian culture. I can’t really do that anymore, there’s no train to take me there, only a 13 hour plane. But it makes each trip nonetheless even more special. This one reminded me exactly why I love Italy so much and why I’m so proud and appreciative to be European. As we were walking in the little streets of Milan on our way to get gelato dressed in our Dolce Gabbana post-show outfits (by the way, in my opinion the best gelato in Milan is this if you haven’t tried yet. They fill your cone with melted white or dark chocolate… and it’s h-e-a-v-e-n. that’s how you get some of em’ Italian curves to fill these Dolce bustiers) I couldn’t help but get my heart all warm and tingly at each step we made. The view of the city, the architecture that had lived so many stories and seen so much, people walking everywhere, biking, running, dancing, singing on the lively Piazza Del Duomo, all of this just brought me to a level of happiness that’s hardly describable.

I was so excited to work again with Dolce & Gabbana for the opening of their new boutique in Milan and show after all the wonderful collaborations we’ve had in the past. It was like going back to my roots. So heart warming. Yes, throughout this article you’ll understand how warm it all felt. Love and warmth. Dolce was in fact one of the first biggest fashion shows I’ve ever attended and I remember how excited I was, not really understanding what’s happening to me. The Dolce Vita… Dolce Gabbana breathes life. It’s one of these brands that’s so independent and alive on it’s own. It’s colorful world, all the Italy inspired patterns celebrating the cultural heritage of the country, the lively shows, it’s people, it’s joy, it’s love, it’s fun. The show itself this year brought pure joy, with Italian street dancers at the beginning of the show who warmed up the crowd and brought humanity back at the core of fashion. Sometimes, fashion feels so cold, unwelcoming… As if fashion wasn’t for people anymore. Unattainable. Dolce give fashion back to people. I can’t tell you how refreshing it was to see the front row clap and shake it’s shoulders, people’s faces light up. That’s what a show should be like. The shows aren’t anymore like they used to be… With a true story, a pure live art performance. It’s all business now. Simple and efficient. To the point. Rare are those who actually touch you. A collection can be of course beautiful, but isn’t the purpose of a show to demonstrate the nature, the story of a collection? Dolce Gabbana did that perfectly. Bringing us all back into the animated, lively streets of Italy where people dance, sing, drink with pretty Italian girls walking by and the boys contemplating in awe. What a pleasure… what a refreshing pleasure. This show made my season.

Needless to say, I was also so excited to wear Dolce Gabbana and embrace the word woman. Fact is, Domenico and Stefano know how to create clothes for women. They embrace women, they love women, they make them feel like it. When you wear Dolce, you feel like a queen. Thus the crown. You feel beautiful, confident and powerful in your own skin. And there’s no better feeling than this. This feeling of being celebrated. That’s what I love the most about fashion. No matter how strong our minds are, fashion is always there to give us an extra push of confidence. To become who we want to be and manifest it in reality through a part of ourselves, our appearance. Body speaks to mind and vice versa. When you wear something so flattering and gorgeous, you can help but place your mind in a whole different place. You exude something new. It’s just a little push in the right direction. While choosing my outfit for the show, I had the pleasure of discovering their new boutique on Via Montenapoleone which seems to come out of a fairytale with it’s sculptural stairs, green marble and magical tapisseries. It’s everything you could ever dream of which makes it such a special experience from the moment you step inside. Jewels, shoes, bags, gowns, pajamas, anything you wish for is here. And everything made out of the most ravishing materials with the signature Dolce & Gabbana design. I felt like a little kid in a candy store, completely loosing my mind at the idea of so many treasures around me.

After the show, we had the absolute pleasure of experiencing the most lavish, and utterly glamorous Dolce Gabbana dinner as Stefano and Domenico made the impossible happen. They managed to shut down Via Montenapoleone, which as you might know is one of the busiest shopping streets in Milan to organize an enormous dinner for their guests. A dinner made of an abundance of Italian delights and people dressed in the most gorgeous Dolce & Gabbana creations. I felt like I was in a dream to be totally honest. It was one of the most special moments of this fashion week. It brought me back into an older Italy where people would have these giant feasts in the middle of the streets, dance, drink and just enjoy life to the fullest. It very much had this God Father feeling to it, everyone dressed so fabulously with such glamorous decors… A pure Italian fairy tale. So to honor this experience, I am excited to finally be able to share with you this editorial we created with Cibelle to portray the “Sogno Italiano”, the Italian Dream. Because this whole adventure, really felt like a dream. Sweet, warm and magical.